Can You Survive Konoha Academy?
by QueenOfAllLlamas
Summary: A re-do of my old fan fiction.  Suki, a new student to Konoha Academy, is nervous about starting a new school and making new friends: Typical teen stuff.  However, little does she know, her life in Konoha Academy will be FAR from that simple!
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

A car pulled up to the curb of a High School. The name "Konoha Academy" was displayed in big, bulky letters over the entrance of the school. Students reluctantly walked to the building as the school day began, shivering from the cold of the early spring. Suki slowly opened the car door and got out very carefully to make sure that she didn't flash anyone in her new skirt, courtesy of the school's uniforms.

"Good luck, Suki. You'll do fine." Her mother said before Suki slammed the car door shut. The car pulled away from the school, leaving a trail of smoke from the exhaust pipe. Suki turned around to face the school. Her legs shook rapidly from the cold, or at least that's what Suki told herself. The "Konoha Academy" letters stared her down. She took a deep breath and stood tall.

"No turning back now." She said to herself as she entered the building. When she came through the front doors, a sign nearby directed her towards the registration office. Suki stepped in and walked to the front desk. No one was there, so she rang the bell by a bowl of candy. No movement was made in response to the bell, so Suki rang it again, this time grabbing a piece of the candy and popping it in her mouth. Shortly after the second ring, a woman with short black hair ran over to her.

"Ah! I'm sorry. Were you waiting long?" The woman asked, short of breath. Suki shook her head. The woman sighed in relief.

"Okay, good. I was worried for a second." She said happily. Then, she paused before eyeing Suki up and down and checking something on her clipboard.

"Oh, a-are you the new student?" She asked hopefully. Suki nodded.

"Yes. I'm Suki." Suki replied quietly.

"Oh good! My name is Shizune, and I'm the assistant principal. If you come with me, I'll get your schedule and show you to your homeroom class."

Suki followed Shizune to the guidance room to get her schedule. When they got to the guidance room, Shizune showed Suki to a seat as she tried to find Suki's papers. While Shizune rummaged for them, Suki slowly looked around the room.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from down the hall, in a room labeled "Guidance B". The door flew open and a boy about Suki's age with dark, spiked hair and even darker eyes stomped out of the room. He reached the door to exit the guidance room. Before leaving, he noticed Suki. Their eyes meet, but only for a second before he left the room.

"Sasuke wait! Our session isn't done!" an older woman shouted as she ran down the hall, but it was too late. He was gone. The woman from the guidance room walked over to Shizune and sighed.

"I hate to say it, but that boy is a lost cause." She said, smoothing out her hair.

"You've been trying your best. Kurenai," Shizune said," he just needs some extra work." Kurenai replied by giving Shizune a hopeless look.

Shizune walked over to Suki with the schedule in her hand.

"Now, let's go to your class." Shizune said happily.

The hallway was eerily quiet as Suki and Shizune walked to Suki's new class. Most students were in their homeroom, so the halls echoed as they walked down the hallway. As they passed the other classrooms, Suki peeked through the windows to see what was going on in the other classes. Shizune stopped abruptly, causing Suki to bump into her.

"Here we are!" Shizune said triumphantly, as if she didn't know where she was going. Shizune opened the door to Suki's first class at the Konoha Academy.

"Are you going to be all right?" Shizune asked, seeing Suki tense up.

"I hope so." Suki said as they walked into the room.


	2. Chapter 2: Home Room

Suki and Shizune stepped into the room. Suki saw two boys joking around, a few girls gossiping, and a group of people hanging out. The room looked like an out of control mess. The teacher tried to calm the class down, but with no avail. Shizune cleared her throat loudly to get the teacher's attention. The teacher saw Suki and Shizune and turned red. He quickly apologized for the class's behavior and welcomed Suki in. Shizune handed Suki's papers to her. After wishing Suki good luck, she left the class.

"So, you're the new student,' he said," My name is Iruka. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class, or should I?" Suki nodded in reply to his first option.

"Okay," Iruka said," let me get the class' attention before you introduce yourself." He walks in front of his desk and cleared his throat.

"Students." He said. No reply.

"Students?" He said, louder than before. Still no reply.

"HEY KIDS!" He shouted. The class immediately quieted down and the students rushed to their seats.

"Now that I have your attention, let me introduce you to our new student." Iruka motioned Suki to stand next to him. Now that the class was all eyes on Suki, introducing herself seemed like a slightly more difficult task. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"H-hello, I'm Shimuzu Suki. It's nice to meet you." She said with a shy smile. The class was mostly silent, with the exception of a few cat calls. Iruka gave those students a death glare and the cat calls ceased. Iruka scanned the classroom for a desk for Suki. He finally found one next to a girl with blonde hair pulled back into four ponytails.

"How about you sit over there next to Temari." He said as he gestured to the empty desk. Suki walked over to the desk with her eyes glued to the floor. She did not want to look at any of her peers. She sat down in her seat and Iruka began to read the daily bulletins. Suki pulled out a notebook and a pencil from her bag and took notes, never removing her eyes from the paper. Temari leaned over to Suki and read her notes.

"You don't have to write down the daily bulletins, they aren't that important." She said. Startled, Suki jolted up and dropped her pencil. Temari smirked and giggled and Suki turned bright red.

"I know, but it's an old habit of mine," Suki replied," I move from place to place, so I have to take notes on everything or else I fall behind." Temari's face softened and stopped giggling.

"Ah, that has to be tough, but I guess I know how you feel."

"Oh?" Suki asked.

My family just moved here; me and my two brothers. We're from the windy city." Temari said. Suki looked at Temari, confused.

"The windy city: Chicago."

"Oh, okay. Sorry."

"Don't be. There's nothing to be sorry about. Hey, can I see your schedule?" Temari asked.

"Only if you'll tell me about the people in this school."

"That I can do." Temari said with a smile. Suki gladly handed over her schedule for Temari to look at. Halfway through checking Suki's classes, Temari raised her head from the paper.

"It looks like we have a lot of classes together, even lunch." She said before looking at the schedule again. Seconds after she goes back to looking at the paper, Temari stared blankly at the paper and a surprised "oh" escaped from her lips. Suki gave a pleading look to Temari, terrified on what made her act that way. Temari was about to reply, when she noticed two boys that were three rows in front of them. They both had smug looks on their faces that were directed at Suki.

"Looks like you have two admirers all ready." Temari said, laughing. Suki looked away and the boys laughed. Temari smirked, flipping the two off, and they turned away.

"Don't worry about them," Temari said," they're two clowns. The one with the blond hair is Naruto. He's very eccentric and incredibly stubborn. You either hate him or love him. The one next to him is Kiba. He has a pretty big ego and he loves animals."

"It looks like you're giving me a tour of the school all ready." Suki stated.

"If that's what you want to call it," Temari replied," Well, now that I've started, I might as well finish."

Temari looked around the room, as if she was studying the students. She started off with two girls by the window. One had short pink hair and green eyes. The other girl had blonde hair tied into a ponytail and blue eyes. They appeared to be quite tense with each other.

"The blonde girl is Ino and the pink haired girl is Sakura. I guess they were really good friends with each other when they were little, but now they fight with each other all the time. Rumor has it that their whole friendship was ruined by a boy, but it sounds like that boy is really cold and distant, so I don't understand why they like him." Temari said. The comment about the boy reminded Suki of the boy she saw earlier.

"Is his name Sasuke?" Suki asked.

"I think that's what it was. How did you know?

"I saw him earlier today. His personality matches your description. Does anyone know why he's like that?"

"No," Temari replied," It's a sensitive topic. Only the teachers know why, and they aren't giving away any hints."

Temari continued on with the "tour", but Suki was still stuck on the previous topic. 'I wonder why his story is so private,' she thought,' I'm very curious about it…but then there is that saying 'curiosity killed the cat'…I don't want to be like the cat!'

Temari noticed Suki's blank stare and stopped her 'tour.' She waved her hand in front of Suki's face to snap her out of her trance.

"You must be tired. I'll stop the tour for now." Temari said, heaving a sigh.

By the time Temari and Suki started to listen to the daily bulletins, it was all ready on the last announcement.

"Remember everyone, Kiba, in particular, that animals are NOT allowed on the school grounds." Iruka said. Snickers fluttered around the classroom after that announcement. Then, the bell rang, declaring that homeroom was over for the day. Iruka dismissed the class and they fled out of the room. Suki quickly put her notepad in her bag and met up with Temari at the door.

"Now, on to first hour." Temari said triumphantly.

"What's first hour?" Suki asked.

"Gym with Gai-Sensei."


	3. Chapter 3: Gym

"All right, my wonderful class, it's time for laps!" Gai-Sensei shouted in an eager tone. This teacher was very odd. Clad in a green spandex suit with orange leg warmers and a bowl cut hairdo, someone would think he was a hyper Bruce-Lee reject. Even with his exited tone, the class refused to be happy about laps. They all ran at their slowest pace, except for one student. He was practically sprinting around the track, and he never stopped or slowed down. Suki was amazed at his ability. As the boy was approaching him, she noticed how much he resembled Gai-Sensei.

"Is that Gai-Sensei's son?" Suki asked Temari. Apparently, Suki's question was hysterical, because Temari started to have a laughing fit. They had to stop so Temari could catch her breath. Once Temari calmed down and they started to run again, Temari answered the question.

"No, he's not Sensei's son, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a clone of Sensei!" Temari said. Suki giggled at that remark as she watched the boy approach the end of his laps. The boy finished them, still looking like he wanted to do more. Gai-Sensei rushed over to the boy and congratulated him on a job well done. With tears in their eyes, they embraced each other. Suki lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

Suki and Temari finally completed their laps. They were near the end because of Temari's laugh attack. As the two caught their breath, a shadow loomed over them.

"Who is this student? I've never seen her before!" The two girls look up to see Gai-Sensei towering over them.

"Gai-Sensei, this is Suki, the new student." Temari said. Gai-Sensei extended his hand out to Suki in the gesture for a handshake.

"I'm Gai-Sensei. It's nice to meet you. How do you like this school so far?" Gai-Sensei said happily. Suki put her hand out and completed the handshake.

"I'm Suki. It's nice to meet you, too, and I guess that school has been good so far." She said with a little smile.

"Such youth!" Gai-Sensei exclaimed. He rushed off and returned with the boy who ran so fast.

"This is Lee," He said," he's this school's track and field star. He's never lost a match!" He pushed Lee over to Suki, as if he wanted them to become instant friends. Lee looked Suki and immediately looked away.

"I don't like her! The only one for me is Sakura!" Lee turned around and started to run towards Sakura when Gai-Sensei hit Lee on the head.

"That's not how you treat a new student!" Gai-Sensei roared.

"I'm sorry, Gai-Sensei! How could I be so rude?" Lee exclaimed with tears streaming down face.

"That's okay, Lee. All is forgiven." Gai-Sensei said, now crying, too.

"GAI-SENSEI!" Lee shouted as they embraced, yet again. Suki backed out slowly, in case they decided to draw her into the hug. She sneaked over to the rest of the students and sat as far away from Gai and Lee as possible. Temari walked over to Suki and smiled at Suki's perplexed look.

"Just give it some time. You'll get used to it." Temari said.

"You mean they do this all the time?" Suki shouted.

The rest of the hour was fine. It was still crisp outside with the early Spring air, but Gai-Sensei kept them moving so they wouldn't be cold. Suki was in line for the high-jump test, when suddenly, the girls began to groan with displeasure. They were rolling their eyes as a man strode up to the field. He was tall with long white hair tied into a pony tail. Even with it pulled back, his hair looked incredibly messy. He had a lump on one side of his nose (Suki debated whether it was a wart or a tumor or…something.) The man was eyeing all of the girls with a smug look on his face. Suki cringed at his stare. She was ready to report him, but it seemed he was good friends with Gai-Sensei, because they both began to chat. Suki was starting to question if Gai-Sensei was in cahoots with the pervert, but her thoughts were cut short as it was her turn at the high jump.

She was usually good at the high jump, but something about the atmosphere unnerved her. She shook her head, drew in a deep breath, and ran towards the bar. She felt her feet lift the ground and began to jump over the bar. She lifted her head up to focus on the bar in front of her when she saw a dark shadow standing under the bleachers at the end of the field. It was a boy. He was a student, since he wore the uniform, but something about him seemed off. He had raven black hair that was in a ponytail and he had dark lines etched in under his eyes. 'His eyes…' Suki thought. They were so strange. They had a _crimson_ glow to them, as if they were on fire, but when Suki looked into them, she felt an icy sting. Suki became frightened by this strange man's hostility and froze, causing her body to lock up. Her body was still not in the proper position to successfully jump over the bar. Time seemed to slow down as she began to collide into the bar. Suki squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the collision.


	4. Chapter 4: Math

Suki's eyes fluttered open. As she began to regain consciousness, she took a sharp breath in and started to feel the pain in her side. The whole gym class was crowded around her by now. Some were snickering; others had a worried expression on their faces. Gai-Sensei pushed the students away so he could help Suki get up.

"Can you stand? Are you okay?" He asked. Suki let go of Gai-Sensei's hand and tried to stand on her own. She swayed to one side, and then to the other before balancing out.

"I think so." She said, still a little off balance.

"Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" The white-haired man asked eagerly, budging through the crowd. The girls (and a few boys) pushed him away and shouted "NO!" Suki took a few steps forward by herself to convince Gai-Sensei that she was fine. Her side ached with every other step, but she brushed it off.

"You may be fine, but I'm excusing you from the rest of the tests today." Gai-Sensei said before walking over to the herd of students.

"What are you all standing around for," He shouted," you all aren't excused from the tests!" The rest of the students reluctantly went back to their testing areas. Temari saw Suki toppling over and ran over to her for support.

"You should go to the nurse, Suki…"Temari said, concerned for her new friend.

"I'm fine," Suki replied. She started to walk over to the chain-link fence near the end of the field "I'm just going to sit over there while you finish with your tests." Temari followed Suki to the fence to make sure she didn't fall over again. As soon as they were at the fence, Temari started to interrogate Suki.

"What went wrong at the high jump? Don't say you tripped, because you were in the air before you crashed. What happened?" Temari asked. Suki looked at the bleachers at the other end of the field. She scanned the whole area, but the guy with the freaky eyes was nowhere to be found.

"I don't know," Suki said "I thought I saw someone, but I guess I was wrong." Temari was going to ask a few more questions, but she had to go back to testing.

Temari immediately ran back to Suki after class was over. She thought Suki would need help with standing up, but Suki was all ready up and walking by the time Temari got over to her. They were walking to the dressing room when screams were heard from inside the girls' room. Suddenly, the doors flew open and the man with the white hair was sprinting out of the room, dodging objects that were being thrown at him.

"What is with that guy?" Suki asked, watching the man dash away.

"That would be Jiraiya-Sama," Temari said with a disgusted look. Suki looked bewildered

"Jiraiya-_Sama?_ It doesn't sound like he deserves a title like that!" Suki exclaimed.

"The thing is he isn't like that all of the time. When he's working or teaching, he's focused, formal, and respectable, but when he's doing 'research'…"

"'Research?'" Suki asked.

"You know those books that people put in the very back of the stores because of 'adult content?'" Temari asked. Suki shivered.

"Don't say any more." Suki said, wishing she never asked.

"I won't, but you got lucky," Temari scoffed, "when I asked about it, they told me in FULL detail."

"…Ew." Suki said, grimacing at the thought.

"You might want to snap out of whatever you're thinking about because we're going to be late if we stand around much longer." Temari said as she glanced at the clock.

The two girls quickly changed and exited the dressing room. They merged into the mob of students who were also on their way to class. Temari led Suki up a flight of steps to the second floor.

"This is one of the few classes I don't share with you." Temari said, pointing to the math door, "I'll be back when class is over." Temari began to go back down the flight of steps when Suki stopped her.

"Can you at least introduce me to the teacher?" Suki said. Temari sighed.

"Fine." She said as they walked into the room.

The classroom was almost empty. 'I guess this is what I get for being in advanced math' Suki thought. The class contained a boy with long brown hair and steely gray eyes, another boy who was sleeping at his desk, a girl with brown hair pulled into two buns, a boy with sunglasses on who seemed to be analyzing the ladybug on his desk, and Sakura. Temari and Suki looked around for a teacher, but no one was there.

"I know you want me to stay, but I have to go to class." Temari said anxiously, eyeing her watch.

"Okay…"Suki said.

"You're sounding like a little kid. Look, I promise I'll be back at the end of class, so don't be stupid and walk off when the bell rings. Just go into the room all ready." Temari said, nudging Suki. Suki nodded and walked into the class.

Sakura saw Suki come in and waved to her, motioning for Suki to come sit next to her. Suki gladly took the seat by her.

"Hi! You're in my homeroom, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, I am." Suki said as she took out her notebook and put it on the desk.

"I thought you looked familiar! I'm Sakura, and your name is…Suki, right?"

"Yes. I'm glad you remembered," Suki replied, smiling, "by the way, is that Lee kid from gym your boyfriend?" Her question caused laughter in the class. The only one who wasn't laughing was Sakura.

"What? NO!" She shouted," He's some crazy stalker! I wouldn't go out with him if you paid me!" Even more laughter cam from the class as Lee walked into the room. His eyes lit up and he ran over to Sakura.

"Sakura-chaaaaaaan!" He exclaimed while running to her. He extended his arms as if he was going to hug her, but was met with a fist in the face that sent him flying in the other direction. The class was now roaring with laughter at this event.

"Okay everyone, settle down." The teacher said, walking into the class. He walked to the board and pointed to the problem on it with a piece of chalk.

"Does anyone know the answer to this?" He asked. One or two people raised their hands, but the teacher stopped them.

"Wait, do we have a new student?" He asked, just noticing Suki. Suki immediately stood up from her desk and introduced herself.

"I'm Shimuzu Suki. I just moved here." She said, bowing.

"Hello, Suki," He said as he walked over to her, "I'm Asuma-Sensei." His breath smelt like tobacco with a hint of mint, most likely an attempt to cover up his smoking habits.

"Since you're the new student, why don't you solve the problem on the board." Asuma-Sensei said, giving the piece of chalk to Suki.

"W-What?" Suki asked nervously.

"Go and answer the problem on the board." Asuma-Sensei said, smiling. Suki weakly smiled back, but was panicking on the inside. Suki slowly approached the board. Suki hated being in the spotlight. Even if she was good at math, being in front of people put her brain on vacation. She put the piece of chalk to the board and felt her thoughts slipping away. 'This is not good.' Suki thought, frozen at the board.


	5. Chapter 5: English

Suki stared blankly at the problem.

'Maybe if I guessed a number…' Suki thought as she moved the chalk piece closer to the board.

"It's three" a voice said from behind her. Suki spun around to see it was the boy sleeping at the desk. His head was now off the desk and rested in his hands.

"I'm sorry, what?" Suki asked.

"The answer is three." He said, irritation rising in his voice.

"Oh…okay…" Suki said and wrote the number down.

"Shikamaru!" Asuma-Sensei yelled, "that problem was Suki's, not yours! Why did you give her the answer to the problem?" Shikamaru stretched in his seat and yawned before answering.

"Because I think it's troublesome to give the new girl a board problem on her first day here." He said before resting his head back on the desk and going back to sleep. A frustrated Asuma-Sensei walked over to Suki and took the chalk from her.

"I guess you don't have to do board work today." He said, directing that comment to the now sleeping Shikamaru. Suki walked back to her desk, happy to be out of that situation.

Just as Temari promised, she was waiting outside when Suki was done with math. Suki was slightly nervous because Temari looked unusually happy.

"I forgot that Shikamaru was in that class. Did you meet him?" She asked.

"Yes…well, sort of," Suki replied, "he talked to me, but only to give me the answer to the math problem. It was odd because he was sleeping the whole time, so that means all he did was glance at the problem and get the answer right away!"

"Yeah, that would be Shikamaru. He may sleep all of the time, but he's the most intelligent student in the school! He might even rival college professors!" Temari stated. Suki raised her brows.

"Why doesn't he go to college then?" Suki asked.

"It's because he's extremely lazy. If he had the choice between being on the cover of Time magazine and staring at the clouds all day, he would pick the clouds in a heartbeat." Temari said, almost dreamily. Suki grinned.

"I think you like him." Suki said.

"What? NO!" Temari exclaimed.

"Okay, maybe you don't," Suki said, "but if you did, you shouldn't be embarrassed. He sounds like a cool guy. He's intelligent, he doesn't appear to have a big ego, and to top it all off, you two could spend all day together, hand in hand, watching the clouds drift by." Suki said. Temari was starting to blush, now imagining that scene.

"You're blushing." Suki joked.

"I am not." Temari declared.

"Yes you are."

"Look, we're all ready at our next class," Temari said, thankful for the subject change, "English with Kakashi-Sensei."

The English class had a lot of familiar faces. Sakura, Naruto, Lee, Shikamaru, The girl with the two buns (Suki learned her name was Ten-Ten) and Sasuke. Sakura was literally _fighting_ off Lee with the help of Ten-Ten, Naruto and Sasuke were hanging out, and Shikamaru was…well, sleeping as usual. Temari led Suki over to the teacher's desk. The teacher had gray hair, but he appeared to be in his early 20s. He had a surgical mask covering his mouth, as well. He was leaning back in his chair and reading a book. As Suki and Temari got closer to Kakashi-Sensei, Suki noticed a certain white-haired pervert's name was on the cover of the book. 'Another pervert?' Suki thought. Kakashi-Sensei noticed Suki and Temari and put his book down.

"Hello. I haven't seen your face before," he said, looking at Suki, "that must mean you're my new student."

"Yes," Suki replied, "my name is Shimuzu Suki."

"Ah, Suki," Kakashi-Sensei replied, as if in deep thought, "did you know that Suki means 'Beloved' in English?"

"Yes, I did." Suki said, smiling slightly. Kakashi-Sensei's eyes smiled back.

"Well, I guess I should assign your seat to you." He said. He looked at the seating chart and found Suki's name. He looked up and pointed to an empty seat, next to Sasuke.

"Your seat is right over there." He said. Suki gave Temari a nervous look as they were walking to their seats.

"Don't worry," Temari replied with a twinge of sarcasm, "he isn't going to _attack_ you." Suki sat at her desk. As Kakashi-Sensei began his lecture, Suki watched his every move to avoid looking at Sasuke. Something about him put her off, so she decided ignoring him would be the best solution to avoid conversation with him. Then, out of her peripherals, she noticed Sasuke staring right at her. She panicked and frantically wrote down what Kakashi-Sensei was saying, still looking at the board.

"You know you're writing on the desk, right?" Sasuke asked. Suki looked down to see that she never took out her notebook. She immediately took out a piece of paper and began writing again and muttered and embarrassed "thanks." Sasuke looked around the room nervously before talking to Suki again.

"Did you tell anyone about this morning?" He whispered. It took Suki a second to realize what he was talking about before replying.

"Oh, you mean at the guidance-"

"Yes, at the guidance office," he said, cutting her off, "did you tell anyone about it?"

"No." Suki replied, somewhat curious to why Sasuke was making such a big deal about this morning.

"Promise?"

"I promise. Your business is your business. I'm not going to start my first day by spreading rumors about someone I don't know." Sasuke relaxed, but only slightly.

"Suki? Sasuke?" Kakashi-Sensei asked," is there something you need to tell me?"

"No, sir!" They both replied, turning red.

"Then it is okay if I continue my lesson?" He asked, causing laughter in the classroom.

"Yes, sensei." They said. Kakashi-Sensei started up his lesson only to be interrupted by the phone. He picked up the phone and spoke with the person on the other end. He hung up and walked to Suki.

"Suki, you need to go to the nurse's office. There's some information that hasn't been filled out yet." Kakashi-Sensei said. Suki rose from her desk and began to walk out of the class when Kakashi-Sensei stopped her.

"Do you need someone to come with you?" He asked. Suki shook her head.

"No, thank you. I have a good idea on how to get to the nurse's office from here." Kakashi-Sensei nodded and Suki left the room.

"Let's see…" Suki said, looking at the school map posted to the wall outside of the English room, "if I go across the hall and down that staircase, I'll get there faster." Suki turned and walked over to the stairwell. As she began to descend down the staircase, she had a bad feeling. She didn't like it, but she continued anyway.

Before reaching the bottom, she saw a group of eight or so boys crowded at the bottom of the stairwell. They wore the school's uniforms, but they had a unique addition added to it; a black bandana with a red cloud lined in white was wrapped around each of the boy's arms. It was a fairly intimidating style. Suki's heart skipped a beat. She knew she had to get out of there. Suki began to turn around and run upstairs when someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the bottom of the stairs.

"Just where do you think _you're_ going?" the boy said smugly.

Immediately after Suki left, Temari had a horrific epiphany and jumped out of her seat, nearly knocking her desk over.

"_You_ weren't allowed to leave your desk, let alone knock it over." Kakashi-Sensei said, turning from the chalk board to see who made the noise.

"Sensei, we need to get Suki!" Temari shouted.

"Why?"

"Because…because I have a feeling that she's going to use _that_ staircase." Temari said with an exasperated tone. Almost all of the students cringed in response to Temari's statement. It made sense Suki would go in that direction. That stairwell would be the fastest way to get from the English room to the Nurse's office. Kakashi-Sensei's face became very grave. He dropped the chalk and started to leave the classroom.

"I'll go get her." He said, slamming the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6: Akatsuki

The grip on Suki's arm tightened. She thrashed around as she tried to break free, but it was no use. Before she knew it, she was being dragged down the steps. Fear officially set into Suki and she began to panic. She was thrown into the center of the boys, who were now forming a circle around her. She tried to run, but the circle didn't budge. She refused to make eye contact and kept her eyes glued to the floor.

"What should we do with her, hmm?" one voice asked.

"Teach her a lesson, of course!" Another shouted.

"Hold your enthusiasm, Kisame, "an icy voice rang out, "let's tell her what she's done. She _is _the new student, after all." That comment made the hair on the back of Suki's neck stand on end. She looked up to see the guy with the crimson eyes staring straight at her.

"We'll tell you what you've done, "the crimson eyed guy said, "you trespassed on what we like to call out 'property.'"

"Yeah," another one said, adding on to the previous statement, "Everyone knows that they need to avoid us. Even the teachers are too scared of us to do anything about it." The students cackled at the comment, closing in on Suki. Suki felt like prey being cornered by a bunch of hungry hawks.

"No one comes onto our 'property'," a red haired boy said, "If they do, they receive the ultimate 'punishment." Suki jerked back and bumped into one of the boys. She stepped away from him, but she could feel his hand sift through her hair.

"She's kind of' cute," he said, letting Suki's hair fall through his hands, "maybe we could go a little easier on her, hmm."

"No, Deidara," one said, breaking from the crowd, getting closer to Suki "everyone gets the full punishment." This guy scared Suki the most. He was very tall and had silver hair that was slicked back. He also was wearing a necklace with some sort of symbol on it. He cracked his knuckles and took another step towards Suki. He smirked, which make Suki take a step back, this time bumping into the one with the crimson eyes. He held her arms behind her back so she couldn't run away.

"Hold her still, Itachi." The silver haired boy said. Itachi's grip on Suki tightened so there was no way for her to escape.

"Let's start with the physical punishment and see where it takes us." The silver haired boy said, balling his hand into a fist. Suki squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the fist to make contact.

Suki waited, and waited, but the punch never landed. She didn't feel a punch, kick, or anything. Suki opened her eyes to see the fist only inches away from her face. Someone was stopping the fist. She looked to the side to see Kakashi-Sensei grabbing onto the guy's wrist. Even though he was bigger than Kakashi-Sensei, the silver haired boy could not break from his grip.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Kakashi-Sensei said, giving the boys a steely look. The boys gawked at Kakashi-Sensei.

"That's your cue to leave." He said. He let go of the silver haired boy's wrist and they began to leave, but not without the boy picking a fight. He spun around and began charging at Kakashi and Suki, cursing like a sailor. Two members had to hold him back while he unleashed his fury.

"Fuck you! Let me at 'em!" he spat, trying to break free from his teammates.

"Hidan, it isn't worth it." One of the two holding him back said.

"Damn it Kakuzu, you bastard!" Hidan shouted. After a few more curses, he calmed down.

"You got fucking lucky this time, bitch." Hidan said as they left. After they were gone, Kakashi-Sensei examined Suki.

"Did they hurt you? Are you injured?" he asked, looking for a bruise or cut. Suki brushed the few tears off her face and said "I'm fine." Suki and Kakashi walked out of the stairwell, Suki still very shaken with her encounter.

"Would you like it if I walked you to the nurse?" He asked.

"That would be nice." Suki replied with a faint smile.


	7. Chapter 7: Nurse

Suki was glad to be in the nurse's office. The front office was right next door, and the security cameras nearby helped comfort her in case that group decided to come back and finish the job. When Suki and Kakashi-Sensei got to the nurse's office, Suki told Kakshi-Sensei that he should go back to the class room.

"You should probably go see what your students are doing." She said. Kakashi-Sensei agreed and left the room. Suki walked up to the desk, but no one else was in the room.

"H-Hello?" She called out, hoping for a reply.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Just give me a second." A voice answered from behind Suki. Suki spun around to see a woman walk in. She had blonde hair that was in two loose pigtails and brown eyes. She walked around Suki and went to the desk.

"So, what can I do for you?" The woman asked as she sat down in the chair behind the desk.

"I was sent down here to fill out some papers." Suki said quietly.

"Oh, yeah. The new student." She said. She picked up a clipboard with some papers on it and handed it to Suki.

"Find a place to sit and then just go fill these out." She said. Suki shuffled over to a nearby chair and began to fill out the papers. As Suki filled out the papers, the woman began to study Suki.

"What's wrong with your side?" The woman asked, resting her chin on her hands.

"H-H-H-How did you-?" Suki asked, amazed that this woman could tell.

"You've been shifting your weight to one side; the opposite of the one you injured. Plus, you look like you got into a nasty fight." She said, judging Suki's slovenly appearance.

"I didn't get into a fight," 'but I got close' Suki thought, "I slammed into the high jump pole today, that's all."

"That's all?" The woman asked, lifting an eyebrow, "How recent was this injury?"

"A little over two hours ago." Suki said. The woman rose from her desk, shaking her head.

"You could have done some serious damage. Go and lie down on this cot. I want to make sure you haven't fractured a rib." She pointed to a sad excuse for a bed. Suki hesitated.

"Now." She ordered. Suki rushed over to the cot and laid down on it. The woman rolled Suki onto her side so her injured half faced the ceiling. She lifted up Suki's shirt to get a good look. The woman lightly touched Suki's side, but it still made Suki flinch. She pulled Suki's shirt back down and rolled Suki onto her back.

"There's nothing to major, but you have some serious bruising. Keep an eye on it and don't put too much pressure on it." She said, walking back to her desk. Suki slowly rose and started to fill the sheets out again. The woman behind the desk started to mutter something about kids acting so tough when they get hurt when Shizune ran in.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shinzune yelled to the woman at the desk. She dashed to the desk and slammed her hands on it, "I've been looking everywhere for you! You should be at the principal's office!"

Tsunade sighed and stared at Shizune.

"Just because I'm the principal doesn't mean I can be a part time nurse, too. I am registered in medicine, so I'm not doing anything wrong, here. Do you think that I would willingly chain myself to my office and waste my life away?" Tsunade replied. Suki's eyes widened. 'Principal?' Suki thought, 'she doesn't look like a principal!' Suki was right; she didn't look like a principal. She looked very young (about late twenties), she wore very casual clothes, and she had such an informal, carefree attitude. Suki's face must have displayed her thoughts, because Tusnade was laughing at her look.

"Yes, I'm the principal, but I'm also the head nurse," she said, "I'd much rather be the nurse, but my grandfather used to be the principle, so I inherited the position." Suki still didn't look convinced.

"Oh, are wondering about my age? I may look young, but I'm actually 50." Tsunade said. 50? Suki nearly had a heart attack.

"This school is so messed up…" Suki said to herself before blacking out.


	8. Chapter 8: Recover

"Suki?" a familiar voice called out. Suki's eyes opened to reveal Temari standing next to her. Suki was lying in one of the beds. Suki looked at Temari to see that she was carrying her and Suki's things. Suki slowly sat up and rubbed her head.

"What happened?" Suki asked.

"You blacked out, and you were out for a long time!" Temari said as she stared at the clock over the door frame.

"How long was I out? What did I miss?"

"Let's see," Temari said, calculating the time in her head, "you left during English, and it's been a while…you ended up missing you fourth hour class and lunch."

"What? No!" Suki cried. She started to grab her things and jump out of the bed when Temari stopped her.

"Relax; you've had a rough day." Temari said. Suki let Temari's words sink in a little more before agreeing. Suki's first day had been really rough. The fact that she moved near the end of the school year, then started her day off by slamming into the high jump bar and being shown up in Math. Then there were the strange teachers, the principal, and the boys in the stairwell…

"Who are those guys that hang out by the staircase?" Suki asked.

"You ran into them?" Temari asked. Suki nodded.

"I guess they're something along the lines of a school gang." Temari said.

"Gang?" Suki repeated, looking shocked.

"Kind of. They're basically a bunch of upperclassmen that like to show that they have the power. They call themselves 'Akatsuki.'"

"If they're nothing more than showy upperclassmen, why don't the teachers stop them? I mean, they're only students- "

"Students with connections," Temari added, "The leader of the gang is related to the man who founded this school. Our principal needed more funding and put the deed in his hands. If the teachers try to stop him, his father shuts down the school."

"That's stupid." Suki said, folding her arms over her chest.

"It may be stupid, but it's the truth." Temari said, shrugging. There was a long pause before Suki started up the conversation.

"What did I miss for fourth hour?" Suki asked.

"Nothing. No one goes to that class, anyway. Everyone takes the online one, instead."

"Why?"

"Because the teacher is freaky! The only students that attend are his science club 'minions'"

"A scary science teacher. It fits…so, how scary _is_ he?"

"Have you seen those Japanese horror films that have the scary ghost girls with the long black hair?" Temari asked.

"Yes…"

"Mix that with Michael Jackson, and you have Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru? Now _that's_ a name." Suki said sarcastically. They both laughed.

"I should probably give your stuff back to you." Temari said. Temari handed Suki's things back to her. On the top of her things were a sandwich and an apple.

"I thought that you would be hungry, so I got you something." Temari said. Suki stared hungrily at the food.

"I'll pay you back." Suki said before biting into the apple.

"All you have to do in return is stop getting into these crazy situations like this." Temari said with a smile.

After Suki was done eating, she got off the bed and stood up. She was a little off balance, but she could continue on with the day.

"You recovered just in time. It's almost time for final hour." Temari said.

"Cool. What is it?" Suki asked as they walked out of the nurse's office. Temari pulled out Suki's schedule to see. Temari made the same face that she made in homeroom earlier today.

"Maybe you _should_ go home early," Temari said with a hint of urgency, "I mean, you haven't been feeling well. Suki sighed and snatched the schedule form Temari.

"What's so wrong with this class," Suki demanded as she studied the paper, "Art? You got me worried about art?"

"Well, I'm not in that class and…" Temari said, but she couldn't finish because they were all ready in front of the room.

"Whether you like it or not, I'm going in." Suki stated, and with that, Suki walked into the class.

The first thing Suki did when she entered the class was to head towards the teacher's desk. The only flaw in this plan was no teacher was there. She looked over to the door in hopes that Temari was still outside, but she wasn't. Before Suki could turn around to face the rest of the class, two arms draped over her shoulders. The owners of the arms leaned in close to Suki and one spoke to her.

"This is an _advanced_ art class. There aren't any teachers here, hmmm." The voice said. Suki didn't have to see who just spoke to know what is happening and why Temari wanted Suki to avoid this class; Suki enrolled in a class with two Akatsuki members.


	9. Chapter 9: Art

"Do you take the bus home?" Suki asked Temari as they walked out of the school.

"Nope," Temari said. She pulled some car keys out of her bag and shook them, "I drive." Suki stared at the keys in awe.

"Which car do you drive?" Suki asked, looking out into the parking lot.

"That black one over there." Temari said, pointing to the shiny convertible.

"Your parents must be loaded." Suki said, bewildered by the car.

"I guess that would be the word to describe it," Temari said, "do you take the bus, Suki?"

"My mom drives me to and from, but it looks like she forgot to pick me up. She's most likely at one of her jazzercise classes." Suki said as she looked for her mother's car. She sighed and started to walk.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Temari asked, "it might be a little crowded with my brothers, but we could make room." Suki smiled at her friend's kindness.

"Thanks, but I can walk. It's not far from here." Suki said. Temari sighed, but ended up agreeing. Before walking home, Suki went over to Temari and hugged her.

"Thanks for…everything today." Suki said.

"No problem. In fact, I'm glad I was there to help. You needed it today." Both laughed and exchanged goodbyes before Suki left for home. Temari watched Suki walk away, smiling.

"It's going to get really interesting with her around." Temari said, chucking to herself. 

"What was I thinking?" Suki shouted out loud as she walked home, "It's freezing outside!" The chilly spring air was bad enough, but the wind was starting to pick up speed.

"I really wish I took up Temari's offer!" Suki shouted. Then she sighed, realizing it's too late to hop in the car with Temari and her brothers. She walked in the cold, sulking. Suki then heard something come towards her from the street corner up the block. She looked up to see a dog running towards her.

"Akamaru, slow down!" A voice called from further away. Suki saw that the dog was running from its owner. Suki stood in the middle of the sidewalk to try to stop the dog stampeding down his path. Suddenly, the dog jumped up and pounced on Suki, knocking her over. Thinking this was a game, the dog barked and licked Suki's face. The boy finally caught up to them. Suki looked over Akamaru to see that the boy was Kiba, and his face was bright red. A gust of wind helped Suki figure out that when Akamaru tackled her, her Skirt flew up. Her face heated up and she sprang to her feet.

"Umm, is he yours?" Suki said, pointing to Akamaru, "he _is_ a he, right?" Kiba looked away from Suki and grabbed Akamaru by the collar.

"Yeah, he is. Thanks. Sorry he jumped on you." He said.

"It's okay. I have a cat at home that tends to pounce whenever possible." Suki said. They both smiled meekly. Akamaru barked to break the silence.

"Uh, I'm gonna take Akamaru home," Kiba said, "thanks again for catching him."

"No problem. See you tomorrow." Suki said, smiling. Kiba turned red again and walked home with Akamaru. Another gust of wind blew, this time reminding Suki that she should get home, too.

As Suki was walking up the driveway of her house, she sighed in relief. 'I'm finally home,' Suki thought, 'with no teachers, no gang, and no weird students-'

"Yosh!" A voice exclaimed. Suki shuttered and spun around. She saw Lee, in a green jumpsuit similar to Gai's, running down the street.

"My three mile after school run is over!" He said as he ran up a driveway and into a house across the street from Suki's house.

"I guess I spoke to soon…" Suki said sadly to herself, hitting her head on the garage door.

Suki walked into her house and saw a note on the set of drawers by the front door. The note said:

Suki,

Went to Jazzercise class,

will be back soon! Be ready

to tell my all about your first

day of school IN DETAIL!

Love,

Mom

p.s. I made you chocolate chip cookies ^_^!

Suki picked up the note and walked into the kitchen, laughing.

"I knew it was Jazzercise class." She said. Suki set the note on the kitchen counter and reached for a chocolate chip cookie. She took a bite into the cookie and leaned against the counter. She closed her eyes and listened to the stillness of the house. Suki heaved a great sigh, pleased that the day was finally over.


	10. Chapter 10: Home

"Do you take the bus home?" Suki asked Temari as they walked out of the school.

"Nope," Temari said. She pulled some car keys out of her bag and shook them, "I drive." Suki stared at the keys in awe.

"Which car do you drive?" Suki asked, looking out into the parking lot.

"That black one over there." Temari said, pointing to the shiny convertible.

"Your parents must be loaded." Suki said, bewildered by the car.

"I guess that would be the word to describe it," Temari said, "do you take the bus, Suki?"

"My mom drives me to and from, but it looks like she forgot to pick me up. She's most likely at one of her jazzercise classes." Suki said as she looked for her mother's car. She sighed and started to walk.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Temari asked, "it might be a little crowded with my brothers, but we could make room." Suki smiled at her friend's kindness.

"Thanks, but I can walk. It's not far from here." Suki said. Temari sighed, but ended up agreeing. Before walking home, Suki went over to Temari and hugged her.

"Thanks for…everything today." Suki said.

"No problem. In fact, I'm glad I was there to help. You needed it today." Both laughed and exchanged goodbyes before Suki left for home. Temari watched Suki walk away, smiling.

"It's going to get really interesting with her around." Temari said, chucking to herself. 

"What was I thinking?" Suki shouted out loud as she walked home, "It's freezing outside!" The chilly spring air was bad enough, but the wind was starting to pick up speed.

"I really wish I took up Temari's offer!" Suki shouted. Then she sighed, realizing it's too late to hop in the car with Temari and her brothers. She walked in the cold, sulking. Suki then heard something come towards her from the street corner up the block. She looked up to see a dog running towards her.

"Akamaru, slow down!" A voice called from further away. Suki saw that the dog was running from its owner. Suki stood in the middle of the sidewalk to try to stop the dog stampeding down his path. Suddenly, the dog jumped up and pounced on Suki, knocking her over. Thinking this was a game, the dog barked and licked Suki's face. The boy finally caught up to them. Suki looked over Akamaru to see that the boy was Kiba, and his face was bright red. A gust of wind helped Suki figure out that when Akamaru tackled her, her Skirt flew up. Her face heated up and she sprang to her feet.

"Umm, is he yours?" Suki said, pointing to Akamaru, "he _is_ a he, right?" Kiba looked away from Suki and grabbed Akamaru by the collar.

"Yeah, he is. Thanks. Sorry he jumped on you." He said.

"It's okay. I have a cat at home that tends to pounce whenever possible." Suki said. They both smiled meekly. Akamaru barked to break the silence.

"Uh, I'm gonna take Akamaru home," Kiba said, "thanks again for catching him."

"No problem. See you tomorrow." Suki said, smiling. Kiba turned red again and walked home with Akamaru. Another gust of wind blew, this time reminding Suki that she should get home, too.

As Suki was walking up the driveway of her house, she sighed in relief. 'I'm finally home,' Suki thought, 'with no teachers, no gang, and no weird students-'

"Yosh!" A voice exclaimed. Suki shuttered and spun around. She saw Lee, in a green jumpsuit similar to Gai's, running down the street.

"My three mile after school run is over!" He said as he ran up a driveway and into a house across the street from Suki's house.

"I guess I spoke to soon…" Suki said sadly to herself, hitting her head on the garage door.

Suki walked into her house and saw a note on the set of drawers by the front door. The note said:

Suki,

Went to Jazzercise class,

will be back soon! Be ready

to tell my all about your first

day of school IN DETAIL!

Love,

Mom

p.s. I made you chocolate chip cookies ^_^!

Suki picked up the note and walked into the kitchen, laughing.

"I knew it was Jazzercise class." She said. Suki set the note on the kitchen counter and reached for a chocolate chip cookie. She took a bite into the cookie and leaned against the counter. She closed her eyes and listened to the stillness of the house. Suki heaved a great sigh, pleased that the day was finally over.


	11. Chapter 11: Family

Soon after the first cookie was finished, Suki took another one and went upstairs to her bedroom so she could change out of her uniform. When Suki opened the door, a pair of yellow eyes stared at her intently.

"Hello, Hoshiko." Suki said, walking over to the black cat on her bed. Suki sat on the bed next to Hoshiko and scratched the star shaped spot on the back of her ear. Hoshiko purred with delight. Suki then broke a piece of the cookie and gave it to Hoshiko.

"Don't tell mom." Suki said jokingly as she walked to her closet. While Suki found something to wear, Hoshiko leapt off of the bed and onto the floor, causing the bell on her collar to jingle. Suki, hearing Hoshiko's collar, peered out of the closet.

"Hoshi?" Suki said, calling out for Hoshiko. She looked around her room to see that Hoshiko was no longer in her room.

"Oh, no." Suki said out loud. Hoshiko tended to get into all kinds of trouble whenever she was able to escape from Suki's room. Suki quickly threw a pair of sweatpants, left the school's shirt on, and ran down the stairs in hopes of stopping Hosiko before she got into anything. Suki heard Hoshiko's collar jingle in the kitchen. Suki entered the kitchen and saw Hoshiko on cookie plate with cookie crumbs and chocolate chips in her fur.

"Hoshiko!" Suki shouted as she lifted Hoshiko off the plate, "those cookies were mine! What do you have to say for yourself?" Suki held Hoshiko up to her face and glared at the cat. Hoshiko replied by burping. Her breath smelt like cookies. Suki scowled at Hoshiko before carrying the cat up to her room. Suki threw Hoshiko into her room and slammed the door behind her so Hoshiko could not escape.

As Suki walked away, she heard Hoshiko clawing and mewing at the door.

"That's what you get for eating my cookies." Suki said.

Suki was walking down the steps when she heard her mother's voice.

"Suki? Where are you? I hope you're not waiting for me at the school!" her mother yelled as she walked around the house.

"I'm right here, mom." Suki said when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her mother ran over to her and gave her a big hug.

"Suki! I missed you so much today," her mother said, squeezing Suki tighter, "how was your day? Good? Bad? Tell me everything!"

"Today was…good." Suki said, breaking away from the hug. Suki's mother did not believe her.

"It doesn't sound like it was good." Her mother said, crossing her arms.

"Okay, it wasn't _good_, but it was…interesting."

"Interesting? How?" Her mother asked, now very interested in Suki's first day at Konoha Academy.

"Well," Suki started, "the school is pretty crazy. I mean, some of the things that happened today made me think I was in a ridiculous story!" (herp a derp =w=). Suki then walked off to the kitchen to find something else to eat.

"That's too bad." her mother said as she followed Suki to the kitchen. Suki's mother paused as she thought of something else to say.

"Did you meet any cute boys?" Her mother asked curiously. Suki spun around immediately after her mother said that.

"Mom! Don't say that!" Suki shouted.

"Is it me, or are you turning red?" her mother said. Suki looked away, embarrassed. Suki's mother walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"I'll leave you alone," her mother said, amused by her daughter's response, "I'm going to change out of my gym clothes and then I need to get to work at my new project. I'll probably be in my room for the rest of the night. Can you make dinner?"

"I can cook. Don't worry about me." Suki said.

"Okay. If you need anything, just knock." Her mother said before retreating to her room. Suki watched her mother skip happily up the stairs.

"Maybe I'll make cookies for her tomorrow." Suki said before going to start her homework.

When Suki finished her homework, she rummaged around for something that could pass off as dinner. After searching through the whole kitchen, she finally found some vegetables in the refrigerator.

"I guess we're having stir-fry tonight." Suki said while looking for a wok to put the vegetables in. Suki defrosted the vegetables and tossed them into the wok. She poured some teriyaki over it and mixed it all together. While the vegetables sat in the wok, she cooked some rice for it.

When it was all done, she put the vegetables over the rice in two separate bowls and went upstairs to her mother's room. She went to her mother's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in." her mother said from behind the door. Suki came into the room and presented the meal.

"Dinner is served." Suki said as she placed a bowl next to her mother. Suki sat next to her mother on the bed and looked at the display on her mother's laptop. There were numerous pictures displayed, showing the options for this fall's fashion show.

"Hey, mom," Suki asked, taking a bite of the stir fry, "when will they put your designs down the runway?" Her mother sighed and stared at the screen.

"Never," she said, "my job is to decide what runway looks make it into the magazines."

"But you're an amazing designer!" Suki said. Her mother sighed again and smiled.

"Ever since your loser of a father left, I've had to stop designing for fun and keep a steady job that provides enough money for the both of us, and that's what I'm doing." Her mother said. Suki pouted.

"Who knows," her mother said, trying to cheer Suki up, "maybe if I stay in this business long enough, I'll be able to put my clothes in the magazine!"

"That would be really cool," Suki said, "to think my mom could be a world renowned fashion designer!"

"That does sound pretty nice," her mother said, "Hey, how about this? I design and you could take the pictures! We could make our own business!"

They both smiled and talked on and on about their dream fashion line until Suki's mother's cell phone rang. She picked it up to see that the name 'slave driver' was displayed on the screen.

"Looks like my boss wants to have a word with me." She said. Her tone was far from enthusiastic. Suki nodded and left the room.

"Good night." Suki said as she went to shut the door. Her mother mouthed out 'good night' to her before she answered the phone. Suki went to her room and sat on her bed. She looked at her clock. The digital numbers said that it was 9:40. Although it was early, Suki went to bed anyway. She decided that she would need as much sleep as possible to survive another day at the Konoha Academy.


	12. Chapter 12: Tutor?

"I can't believe it," Temari joked, "you went half a day without getting into some crazy accident."

"Ha ha ha, you're _so _funny." Suki said sarcastically as they walked into the English room. Truthfully, Suki was ecstatic that she didn't go through the kind of day she experienced yesterday.

When the two entered the room, Temari halted Suki and leaned in close to her.

"Look who's staring at you." Temari whispered, nodding her head towards Sasuke. Suki looked over at him and sure enough, he was looking at her. Sasuke noticed Suki's glance and looked away. Suki sat down at her desk and took out her English book. She began to re-read the chapter assigned last night when she felt a presence looming over her. Suki looked up from her desk to see the class surrounding her desk.

"Did you meet Akatsuki?" One student asked.

"What did they look like?" Another one shouted.

"Did they do anything?"

"Did you have to fight them?"

"How did you survive?"

The whole class was buzzing with curiosity, and it was giving Suki a headache.

"All that matters is that she's safe and unharmed." Kakashi-sensei said, walking into the room. The students, knowing their fun was over, wandered back to their seats while Kakashi-sensei started his lesson. Suki looked over and saw Sasuke staring at her again; he appeared as if he wanted to ask her something. It was probably about her encounter with Akatsuki yesterday.

"Yes, I met Akatsuki. They looked like ordinary people. They almost hit me, but Kakashi-sensei stopped them in the nick of time, so yes, I survived." Suki said, answering every question thrown at her earlier. Sasuke smirked.

"That was a nice story, but I wasn't going to ask about that."

"Than what were you going to ask, then?"

"Did you, by chance, meet a member named Itachi?" Sasuke asked. Suki gave him an inquisitive look. Sasuke replied before Suki could respond.

"I will take that as a yes." He said.

"H-how do you know his name, Sasuke?" Suki asked. Sasuke's eyes hardened, giving off a chilly glare. 'I've seen those eyes before' Suki thought.

"I know his name because—"

"Suki? Sasuke? Why must you two keep interrupting my class?" Kakashi-sensei asked from the other end of the classroom. This, of course, directed the class's attention towards Suki and Sasuke.

"We're sorry," Suki started to say, "It's just that—"

"You can save your story for me after class." Kakashi-sensei said, turning back to the chalkboard. Suki and Sasuke, embarrassed for being caught two days in a row, ceased talking for the rest of the hour.

The bell rang and Suki walked up to Kakashi-sensei's desk. Sasuke was right behind her.

"You two should know better than what has been seen during class." Kakashi-sensei said sternly. Suki bowed and said "I'm sorry." Sasuke crossed his arms and looked away, uttering a "humph" under his breath. Kakashi-Sensei sighed at Sasuke and let him leave. Suki followed Sasuke out the door.

"You wait, Suki. I'm not done talking to you." Kakashi-sensei said. Suki reluctantly turned around and walked back to Kakashi-sensei.

"Suki," he began, "I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" Suki asked.

"I would like it if you could tutor Sasuke for me." Kakashi-sensei said. Suki's eyes widened.

"T-tutor? Why—"

"I've seen your transcript from your previous schools. You are very capable of doing this. Also, I want you to help Sasuke."

"Well, that's why I'm going to tutor him, right?"

"Yes, but he needs _help_. He's had a very troubled past, and I believe he's starting to turn to the wrong people."

"Like Akatsuki?"

"Defiantly not Akatsuki."

"Not Akatsuki? I thought they are the 'wrong people.'"

"Well, yes, they are, but Sasuke would never join it."

"Why?"

"Because his brother, Itachi, is in it.

"When Sasuke and Itachi were younger, Itachi was seen as a child prodigy. He excelled in everything, but his parents still wanted him to work harder. Itachi not only reached his parent's goals, but he surpassed them and went even further. Sasuke admired him greatly.

"It wasn't long before Itachi was giving off warning signs. He was removing himself from his social life. He and his closest friend got into a fight. A fist fight. Both ended up in the hospital. I did not hear about what happened to his friend after that. Then, without warning, he lashed out at his family. Itachi was sent to a Juvenile hall for a while. When he was released, he was placed in a separate home. Fearing his younger brother would do the same, Itachi's parents sent Sasuke away, too. Itachi is still a highly dangerous person. No one knows when he may revert back to his previous self. Not even Akatsuki can figure it out." Kakashi-sensei paused when he saw Suki's horrified gaze.

"I-Itachi did all of that? How could he? He was standing right next to me and was so calm, but—"Suki whispered. Her face was pale. Kakashi-sensei continued.

"Sasuke has been emotionally scarred ever since that moment. He has trouble trusting people, and he only has one thought in his mind; to avenge his family by taking down Itachi. I've been trying to help him. Naruto and Sakura also have tried their best, but he has severed all ties. I was waiting for a person like you to try to help him. You have a calm, level-head that could greatly benefit his recovery."

Suki remained silent.

"I know that was a lot to take in, and I'm sorry that I upset you." Kakashi-sensei said somberly as he walked to his desk. He stacked a couple of folders on his desk before continuing.

"I shouldn't have set you up with this. This isn't a student's duty."

"No," Suki said, "I'll do it. I'll tutor him." Kakashi-sensei came over to Suki and patted her on the shoulder.

"You're a brave girl," he said, "if you run into _any _trouble, please tell me."

"I'll do what I can." Suki said before leaving the room. Kakashi-sensei walked to the chalkboard, shaking his head.

"Why did I have to tell her that?" he said to himself while erasing the notes from today's lecture. He sighed and finished cleaning up the class.


	13. Chapter 13: Change

Suki walked down the hallway, stunned. 'What is with this school?' Suki thought while wandering through the halls of the second floor. Suki was walking down the main hallway when she caught herself. She was about to go down the same staircase as yesterday. The one that led her to Akatsuki. Suki took a few steps back and stared at the stairwell's entrance.

Suki stood there for a while, staring blankly into the dark stairwell. Temari saw Suki standing by Akatsuki's domain. Unaware that Suki had no intention of wandering down there, Temari bolted to Suki and yanked her away.

"Don't go that way!" Temari shouted.

"I know. I was just looking." Suki replied.

"I hope so. I never heard a story about anyone making it down there twice!" Temari said. Suki nodded.

"Let's go to lunch," Temari offered, changing subjects, "we should go before Choji gets there, or else there won't be anything left for us."

"Choji?" Suki asked.

"What do you _mean_ I can't have any more?" Choji yelled at the lunch lady. Suki and Temari were walking to a table after receiving their food when this uproar occurred.

"I see why you wanted us to get to lunch before Choji did." Suki said, amazed at Choji's seemingly endless appetite. The lunch lady turned Choji away and he walked back to his table, looking like a sad puppy dog. He sat down with Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba. They all were laughing at Choji's expression, but they all offered something off their tray for him in the end. Suki and Temari finally found an empty table and sat down so they could eat their lunch.

Temari and Suki ate their lunch while conversing about their previous schools. Temari stopped in mid-conversation when she remembered something about Suki's schedule.

"Suki, did you remove Science from your schedule?" Temari asked. Suki sprang out of her chair in shock.

"I forgot! What should I do?" Suki pleaded.

"The first thing you should do is relax," Temari said, "all you need to do is go to the front office and ask for a schedule change. It takes a while to get sorted out, so you'll probably miss a class or two."

"It's okay. I'd rather miss Science than experience the horror of a teacher you told me about."

"Makes perfect sense to me." Temari said. Suki left to dump her tray and walked to the front office.

"May I change my schedule, please?" Suki asked the lady behind the front desk.

"Let me see." The lady asked, extending her hand for the schedule. Suki handed the paper to her. She set it down next to her keyboard and began to type. It took a couple of minutes, but the woman finally was able to remove it off of Suki's schedule.

"Now," the lady said, "do you want to replace this with a different class, take an open hour, or take the online class?"

"The online class, please." Suki said.

"Okay." The woman said as the bell for fourth hour rang. Time passed and third hour turned into fourth hour. Suki watched students travel to their final class of the day from the doorway of the registration office.

"Oh," the woman gasped, "it's almost fourth hour. Do you need to get to class?" Suki didn't even need to think about an answer to that. Being late to art would be nothing more than a blessing to Suki.

"No. It's fine if I'm late." Suki said. The woman glanced at Suki's schedule and nodded.

"You're right. There isn't a teacher to take attendance for that class, anyway." The lady said. She offered a seat to Suki while she replaced Suki's science class.


	14. Chapter 14: Frustration

It was about ten or fifteen minutes into fourth hour when the schedule change was completed.

"We're all done," the lady said, peering at the clock, "oh, my. That took more time than usual."

"It's okay. Thank you for changing my class." Suki said, grabbing the newly printed schedule.

"That's what I get paid for." The lady said, smiling. Suki smiled back before leaving for art.

Suki was greeted the same way as yesterday in art: Deidara and Sasori came up from behind Suki and draped one of their arms over her shoulders.

"Look who made it," Sasori said, "I thought you dropped out." Suki shrugged their arms off and walked over to the shelf of art books. She picked up a photography book and began to flip through the pages. Deidara and Sasori walked over to Suki and repeated the process again, but Deidara spoke this time.

"Guess what, hmmm?" He asked. Suki looked at the art book.

"You're supposed to say 'what, Deidara?'" He said, trying to imitate Suki's voice. Suki set the book down and tried not to laugh at his ridiculous impersonation.

"What, Deidara?" Suki asked, sighing.

"The so-called 'teacher' gave our class an assignment for next weekend: grab a partner and take pictures at the park…" Deidara said.

"And?" Suki asked.

"And we drew straws to see who would be your partner…"

"And?" Suki asked again.

"I'm your partner, hmmm!" Deidara said triumphantly. Suki sighed.

"Great…" Suki muttered. Sasori pulled Suki away from Deidara.

"I know, Suki. Working with that idiot is going to be quite a struggle." Sasori said.

"What did you say, hmmm?" Deidara yelled.

"You're an idiot." Sasori replied calmly. The two began to argue back and forth. Suki decided to back away from the arguing fools. As Suki pulled away from them, she ended up bumping into Sai.

"Hello, Sai." Suki said, hoping she'd get a better reply in comparison to yesterday.

"Hello…" Sai said, trailing off to find the words again. Suki grimaced; afraid he was going to say something even worse than before.

"…beautiful girl." He finished, smiling. Suki stared at him in awe.

"Did you just call me…" Suki began to say.

"Did I pick another wrong word?" Sai asked, cutting her off.

"No, no. It's just that…that's much nicer than what you said yesterday. It caught me off guard, that's all." Suki said, "What's with the change in your word choice?"

"Well, I read that you're supposed to call a girl by the opposite of what you think of her," Sai began, "when that didn't work, I decided to speak the truth, instead." Suki blushed and looked away.

"Oh, uh, well…thanks?" Suki was both flattered by his comment and confused by his logic.

"You're welcome." He said, smiling as usual. He then walked back to his table and took a sketchbook out of his backpack. Suki decided to follow his lead.

The final bell rang, and Suki walked out of the room as fast as possible. It wasn't quite as fast as yesterday, but it was still fast. She was almost home free until Deidara stopped her.

"Remember for next weekend: the park, eleven-thirty, hmmm." He said.

"I can't wait." Suki said, far from enthusiastic as he walked away. Suki collected her things at her locker and left the school. As she walked towards her mother's car, she spotted Sasuke walking home. Suki knew she had to set something up with Sasuke, and now was, most likely, the best time to do it.

"Sasuke!" Suki shouted to get his attention. Sasuke spun around and stared blankly at her.

"What do you want?" He asked, walking over to her.

"Ka…" Suki said, gathering courage, "Kakashi-sensei wanted me to help you with English, so I was hoping I could tutor you sometime—"

"Kakashi-sensei said what?" Sasuke asked with venom in his voice.

"Sensei said it would be a good idea if I helped you, and—"

"Look, I don't need anyone's help."

"This is for your own good, Sasuke."

"Would you stop acting like some annoying old woman and leave me alone?"

"Okay, that's it," Suki said, annoyed by Sasuke's attitude, "I have been assigned to help you with English, and that's what I'm going to do. There's a little coffee shop not to far from the school. We can go study there tomorrow night. That way, it won't feel as formal or uptight like a normal tutoring session. Got that?"

"Whatever." Sasuke said.

"I'll be there at quarter to six. Please show up." Suki said. Sasuke shrugged and walked away. Suki groaned in annoyance and walked to her mother's car.


	15. Chapter 15: Excitement

Suki opened the passenger door and saw her mother grinning from ear to ear in the driver's seat.

"Who was _that_?" Her mother asked while Suki shut the car door.

"It's nothing mom," Suki said while clicking the seatbelt into place, "I'm just tutoring him for English class. Speaking of which, I need to meet him at the coffee shop by the school later tomorrow." Suki's mother slammed on the gas pedal, causing the car to lurch forward and speed away.

"My daughter has her first date tomorrow!" Her mother squealed joyfully.

"Mom! It is not a date! Now, slow down! We're going to crash!" Suki shouted, digging her fingers into the car seat as her mother almost hurled the car into the truck in front of them. Her mother slammed on the breaks, giving both of them whiplash.

"Sorry, Suki. I guess I got a little excited."

"A little?" We almost ended up in the emergency room!" Suki yelled. She was still clinging onto the passenger seat. Suki's mother took a deep breath and carefully accelerated the car.

"Okay," her mother breathed, "when do you need to be dropped off?"

"A little before six." Suki replied.

"I can drop you off then. Do you know what you're going to wear?"

"Anything that isn't my uniform. Probably something comfortable."

"You can't be serious, Suki. You cannot be my daughter and show up looking frumpy! When we get home, I will pick something out for you to wear."

Suki wanted to stop her mother, but she knew her mom was beyond saving. Once in one of these 'moods,' no one can stop her from going on a fashion spree. Her father wasn't even able to do it before they got divorced. Suki laughed bitterly to herself after thinking about the divorce.

Her mother was working very hard on her own fashion line back then, and Suki and her father we're all behind her. At least, that's what Suki and her mother thought. When her father went out looking for sponsors and publicity, he was really having an affair with some random women.

Once Suki's mother discovered this, she kicked him out of the house. Now, it was Just Suki and her mother. Suki's mother had to quit making her line so she could support her family properly. Now, all of her beautiful outfits have been hidden in their basement.

"Come on Suki, we don't have all day!" Her mother shouted from the garage. It dawned on Suki that her reflecting on the past lasted the entire trip from school, and her mother was all ready on her journey to Suki's closet.

"Mom, the study session is tomorrow. We have time." Suki reminded her.

"Well, yes, but you can never be too prepared!"

"…and remember, mom, this isn't a date. Please don't pull out a fancy dress like last time I hung out with a boy."

Suki's mother waved her hand and dove into Suki's closet. Shirts, jeans, and skirts were flying in every direction. Hoshiko, traumatized by this startling event, sprung from the bed and sprinted to Suki in search of comfort. Less than a minute later, Suki's mother emerged from the closet with a light blue tank top, tan jacket, jeans, and tan ankle boots.

"You'll wear _this_ tomorrow." Her mother said, proudly holding up the outfit.


End file.
